The latest budget - developed after a raft of savings have been identified - says £91 million has to be clawed back over the four years starting next April – and proposals are being developed to cover £82 million. This means the shortfall has been reduced from £50 million to £9 million.

At the end of last month a delegation from the council met with local MPs at the Commons to discuss the county’s low funding position from Government and lack of fairness in how grants are distributed.

County Hall, Glenfield

MPs promised to lobby the Government but in the meantime the authority is making plans on the basis of receiving no extra cash.

Council leader Nick Rushton said: “This is our fifth year of austerity savings. By the end of this year, we’ll have saved £103 million but we’ve still got a long way to go.

“This will mean very tough decisions, unless we receive extra Government grant. We are the lowest funded county council – if we received the average level, we’d get an extra £37 million per year.

“After four years of council tax freezes, we’re proposing a 1.5% rise for each of the next four years. We’ve reached the point where we have to consider this and we’ll be asking the public during our budget consultation.”

The council is already progressing a wide range of savings plans, including off-loading the running of rural libraries onto the community and slashing funding for voluntary groups.

Further savings are now proposed across the council, including to bus subsidies, household waste sites and community museums. The job losses may be met largely by staff turnover and vacancy control.

Other ideas include sharing the trading standards service with Northamptonshire and Lincolnshire and further use of assistive technology, such as fall alarms, for people who need care support.

The council also has a transformation programme, to look at how it can deliver services differently, to save £36 million of the total required.